ABSTRACT
This book was written to contribute to our understanding of how democratic legislatures emerge. It seeks to do so by analyzing why the development of legislatures in Russia from 1990 to 1993 ended the way it did—namely, in their abolition by force in October 1993. What went wrong? What lessons can we learn from an analysis of the Russian experience that may help us better understand the dilemmas of democratic consolidation? In light of what we can learn from such an analysis, what are the prospects for future legislative development in Russia? In undertaking this analysis, the editor has been mindful of the admonition expressed by Michael Mezey in the previous chapter that single-country case studies have scientific value only insofar as they are explicitly comparative. As he reminds us: “The goal is theories and explanations that can help us understand legislatures in general. A theory or explanation that applies only to the Russian parliament is about as usefiil as a theory of gravity that applies only to Chicago.” At the same time, even as gravity in Chicago is not a matter to be taken lightly, especially for those living there, so this book is also concerned with what is happening in Russia. In what follows, then, we first try to generalize from the studies of Russian legislative development presented in this book about the factors that explain why democratic consolidation failed. Second, we look at the new Russian legislatures and speculate on whether they are likely to be more successful.
